Baseball games are too long.<\/p>\n
I love baseball, but this\u00a0has become almost inarguable. Here are the lengths of every playoff game so far in 2017, through the Divisional Series (according to Baseball Reference<\/a>):<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/th>\n | Game 1<\/th>\n | Game 2<\/th>\n | Game 3<\/th>\n | Game 4<\/th>\n | Game 5<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARI\/COL<\/td>\n | 3:54<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
NYY\/MIN<\/td>\n | 3:51<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
LAD\/ARI<\/td>\n | 3:37<\/td>\n | 3:48<\/td>\n | 3:36<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
WAS\/CHC<\/td>\n | 3:02<\/td>\n | 3:06<\/td>\n | 3:09<\/td>\n | 3:57<\/td>\n | 4:37<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
HOU\/BOS<\/td>\n | 3:26<\/td>\n | 4:00<\/td>\n | 3:38<\/td>\n | 4:07<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
NYY\/CLE<\/td>\n | 3:26<\/td>\n | 5:08<\/td>\n | 3:17<\/td>\n | 3:47<\/td>\n | 3:38<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n The median length, then, of an MLB playoff game is 3 hours and 38 minutes long. (Median is better than average, because of extra-inning games.) That’s longer than any other major sport’s games. People (self included) have argued for years that baseball is different: it’s a sport without a clock and we should respect that. But baseball games never used<\/i> to be this long, and the rules of the game are roughly what they were. And part of preserving tradition is to preserve the way something felt<\/i>. Baseball games felt quick and crisp even a couple of decades ago, except for interminable Yankees\/Red Sox games. Now all<\/i>\u00a0the games seem to plod along.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n |